Derek Holland's Strong Debut Overshadows Rangers' 8-7 Loss
Southpaw Derek Holland (pictured) dominated the Blue Jays for 2.1 innings on Wednesday evening. - Scott Lucas/The Ranger RundownNot withstanding the continued mound struggles of left-hander Matt Harrison (4 IP, 9 H, 5 ER, 2 BB, 1 K), third baseman Michael Young's still-sizzling bat and ninth-inning almost-heroics, separate injuries sustained by outfielder Andruw Jones (bruised right knee) and right-hander Willie Eyre (aggravated right groin strain) that will likely prompt at least one roster move on Thursday and submariner Darren O'Day's inimitable Rangers debut, the Rogers Centre spotlight clearly shone brightest upon a burgeoning Derek Holland during Wednesday evening's 11-inning loss.
Summoned into a two-out, bases-loaded mess created by sinkerballer Scott Feldman in the bottom of the sixth inning that was technically a far lower-leverage situation than what right-hander Warner Madrigal was required to make his own major league debut in last July 2nd (by virtue of the Rangers already trailing 6-3 at the time of Holland's entrance), the 22-year-old southpaw yielded an infield RBI single before attacking a still-potent Scott Rolen with three consecutive heaters ranging from 94-97 mph and then unleashing a 1-2 slider that induced a harmless inning-ending pop out.
Tenacious, efficient and accurate during the sharp 2.1 innings of work that constituted his long-awaited major league debut, Holland logged 29 of his 42 pitches for strikes and permitted just a single three-ball count during his relentless assault upon a bewildered Blue Jays lineup which truthfully never had a chance:
[Don't know what this graph is? Click here for more information. "Movement" is essentially defined as the number of inches a pitch moved based solely upon spin (with this graph showing the view from the catcher's perspective). Trajectory, arm angle and gravity have no bearing on movement calculations. Background photo courtesy of Scott Lucas.]
Several noteworthy things: (a) Pitch f/x's confidence level on that lone two-seam fastball is low enough that it was likely a four-seam fastball in reality, and (b) one of those 37 pitches recognized as a four-seam fastball registered at just 86.2 mph but had movement similar to that of his fastball, indicating a potential change-up that might have slipped through the cracks of Pitch f/x's neural network. Altering computer-derived pitch classifications is a slippery slope, however, and it is for that reason that a friendly warning will suffice.
Removing said "mystery pitch" from the data results in an impressive average fastball velocity of 94.3 mph and a maximum fastball velocity of 97.1 mph, which borders on unhittable when thrown with the above-average tailing movement and command that Holland exhibited on Wednesday evening. His slider, a dirty little 84-85 mph offering which is widely regarded as his third-best pitch, produced the photogenic swinging strikeout of Aaron Hill with one out in the bottom of the eighth inning; after falling behind in the count 1-2, Hill swung helplessly over a down-and-in slider and literally dropped to one knee with his bat raised high in his left hand (as illustrated in the below video):
[Direct link available here.]
Left-hander C.J. Wilson's 11th-inning control problems and O'Day's unceremonious Rangers debut -- which was preceded by the bizarre sight of O'Day donning a jersey bearing Kason Gabbard's last name and meeting his new manager and teammates for the first time only after trotting in from the bullpen -- effectively rendered Michael Young's ninth-inning dramatics moot from the standpoint of actually winning the game, but it was Holland's brilliance in relief that enabled that late-inning comeback in the first place, and his presence gives Ron Washington one very formidable secret weapon until his inevitable transition to the starting rotation is complete.
This is going to be fun to watch.
10 Comments | in Game Recaps, The Season
Reader Comments (10)
Background photo is a nice touch. I was unable to watch the game but it has been very exciting to read the universally positive reviews of Holland's debut. A poised young man he seems to be.
I forgot, question: How did Jones look in CF?
I'm excited about Holland, but as a whole right now, the Rangers are not very "fun to watch." Feldman is a turd. CJ Wilson is a turd. Harrison looks like he doesn't belong in the big leagues right now. The offense still sputters at times, and there are far too many strikeouts. I hope O'Day can do something because God they need him. He's taking Benson's spot, but they also need someone (Diamond?) to take Eyre's spot. Who's going to take Feldman's spot? Mendoza? And really, after a few relief appearances like that, Holland has to be put into the rotation. He's got better stuff than everyone except maybe Millwood & Franky.
Terrific game. By the way they're battling they may just be ready to get on a roll.
Have to keep running Harrison out there. He's still in developmental mode, and having made the decision to put him in the big league rotation it accomplishes little to nothing by having him yo-yo back and forth between roles now. His side work is critical.
One thing that got me about Holland was the slider. That's supposed to be his weakest pitch, but he seemed confident enough to use it, and to good effect - he made Aaron Hill look pretty foolish when he used it to register his first MLB K.
I can't wait till Holland is deemed ready to slot into the rotation - at the rate Matt Harrison is going, I've got a feeling that could be sooner than we think.
Was no one but me troubled by the O'Day fiasco? The manager introducing himself to you on the mound, while you are wearing someone else's name on the back of your jersey, will not stand out as one of the more professional moments in Rangers history. I have to wonder how Ryan and JD felt about this. Am I being overly critical or was this extremely questionable judgment on Wash's part?
Who else did we have? I think we had to run O'day out there then, Wash knew that CJ was about to give up the go ahead run there, migh as well put the side-arming righty that is good at getting ground balls at a time we needed to get a DP
Agreed for the most part, JD -- I was referring specifically to Holland being fun to watch, not the whole staff as a whole (which is beginning to give me an ulcer).
With respect to the usage of O'Day, Texas was literally backed into a corner and perhaps you can argue that Washington should have left Holland out there longer than he did (which might have enabled Texas to hang around a few more innings), but that's neither here nor there. Jennings wasn't going to pitch on back-to-back days with the concerns over his durability this early in the season and Frankie was presumably only available in an emergency situation, and Eddie...well, I'm beginning to think that Eddie's days are numbered.
FWIW, I've added video from Holland's performance last night for those of you who haven't yet seen it on MLB.com. Enjoy.
Yeah, I can't argue with you there Joey. The look on Eddie's face last night, of which Grieve/Lewin made mention to, about said it all. And I've been saying since before spring training that Eddie needs to be coaching at Clinton or Hickory, not pitching for the Rangers. I'm sure he is an awesome guy, but it happens to all of us. The body (and results) tells us when to pursue another line of work
Holland is going to have a long and good career.